The idyllic village of Balcombe, just south of London, is a stronghold of the Conservative party. Just the sort of place that one might imagine cheering on industry plans to drill for natural gas and applaud the tax breaks that the government has offered to industry.

But 82 percent of the village voted firmly against plans by Cuadrilla Resources, headed by Lord John Browne, the former CEO of British Petroleum, to conduct hydraulic fracturing in their community. Over two dozen protestors have been arrested in the last few days for attempting to block company equipment - including Natalie Hynde and Simon Medhurst, a couple who glued themselves together this morning.

“People will try to convince you that hydraulic fracking is going to be good for the country, that it’s going to bring jobs, that it’s going to make the price of fossil fuel cheaper - don’t be fooled,” added Bianca Jagger, the former wife of the Rolling Stones lead singer, who visited Balcombe this weekend to show her support. “The harm that it will cause to this beautiful area - they’re fooling you.”

Osborne’s plans were greeted by some surprise even by climate skeptics. "I think tax breaks are unnecessary for fracking, based on my knowledge of the oil and gas industry," Peter Lilley, a Conservative member of Parliament said.

But other Conservative politicians have championed the cause. “Certainly in part of the north-east where there's plenty of room for fracking, well away from anybody's residence where we could conduct without any kind of threat to the rural environment,” Lord Howell, a former conservative energy advisor until this past April, told Parliament.